I think two issues came up towards the end of this episode. One was the main topic of “art into job,” and the other was professionalism. Carrie was right so far as financial concerns go. What Patrick brought up was, for lack of a better phrase, how seriously you take yourself as an artist. Do you work (or create) for free? Do you accept every appearance offer? Are there projects you wouldn’t work on, no matter how much you’re paid? I think these two issues can get mixed up because both mean being a professional. Maybe sometime you can talk about the meaning of “professional artist” in terms of attitude, rather than in terms of income.

Wow. What a great discussion on the topic. Here are some of my thoughts:

1) I’m really surprised no one brought up the angle that a book signing isn’t just about reaching out to the audience to grow readership. It’s also a great way to boost sales for a brief moment and increase revenue for the publisher (and hopefully the author). A book signing is a double-whammy benefit since you can find new readers AND make a buck at the same time.

2) I can see Patrick’s points and Carrie’s points. They’re both perfectly valid, and I guess it depends on what you really want out of your career. The cash from reaching consumers or the success of reaching consumers. (I used “consumers” to be generic for the writing/music/art/entertainment/whatever industries.) I don’t see them as mutually exclusive, though. However, there’s a balance. Spending 99% of your time finding new readers for your first book (which I’ve seen plenty of first-time authors do) and 1% of your time writing book #2 is probably a mistake. The reverse of the percentages is also probably a mistake. What’s a good balance? *shrug* I’m not the expert on that, but I guess it depends on what the creator of the artwork is trying to accomplish.

3) Great conversation from all three of you! Keep up the great work!

4) I’ve been trying to give it away for free for years as well, Patrick. 🙂

A) I’m in total control of the “free” thing.
B) If I’m writing it for someone else are they trying to use it to make money?

One thing I never understand is newer writers like myself who are willing to give stories to markets that pay them nothing but try to solicit subscriptions, purchases of issues and donations from readers or advertisement revenue. If you’re trying to make money displaying my words then I’d better be getting something more than exposure.

In the case of the pro’s with books and the publisher wanting them to write a short story. I’d jump all over that if the short were being put out for free because that would be something for us all to benefit from equally. The second the publisher wanted to charge for it and not share some of the revenue though, then I’d have a big problem.

As for the other discussion about quitting the day job – I wonder if this discussion plays out different in countries with universal healthcare. One of the biggest issues I hear American writers bring up again and again, for very good reason, is health insurance. Quitting your job to be a full time artist is a lot harder to do when it means losing your HI, even if the income were comparable. But what if you live in a country like Canada, where you’re going to have most of that coverage whether you have a job or not? Does that make a big difference in the equation? Does it make a big enough difference in the equation?

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